Monday 24/03/2014

Exhibition one – The Finnish Glass Museum 28.3 – 8.6.2014

European Glass Experience is an international touring exhibition of 40 works of art glass and 38 drawings. The exhibition began its tour at the Finnish Glass Museum from the 28th March to the 8th June 2014, with 20 works and all the drawings. In July 2014, the second exhibition was held at Fundación Centro Nacional del Vidrio in Segovia, Spain, with the other 20 pieces and the drawings. In the spring of 2015, all 40 works and the drawings will be on show at the Museo del Vetro in Venice, Italy.

The exhibition entries were chosen through a competition involving over 200 young glass artists (aged 18 – 40) from 22 European countries. An international competition jury consisting of museum directors, curators and glass experts from Italy, Germany, Great Britain, Poland, Spain and Finland selected 40 works representing glass art in seventeen countries.

The jury also selected 38 drawings, all of which were on display at The Finnish Glass Museum. A further selection of twenty works was made from these drawings, to be realized in glass by the master glassmakers of Murano. These pieces will be on display at the exhibition in Venice in the spring of 2015. In connection with the exhibition at the Finnish Glass Museum a workshop was held at the Lasismi glass studio on 28th – 29th March 2014. At this event, three young artists from France, Denmark and the Czech Republic have been invited to work together with Finnish glass artists. The public could follow the making of the pieces and the work of the artists with an opportunity for discussions with them.

This exhibition is part of the European Glass Experience project, with the City of Venice as its main organizing body. The project includes Consorzio Promovetro, association of glassmakers in Murano, the Murano Glass Museum, the Spanish Museum of Glass Technology and The Finnish Glass Museum. A two-year grant from the European Union Culture Programme was awarded for this project in 2013.